December 02, 2012|BY PHIL MARTY, Special to Tribune Newspapers, The Hartford Courant

Here are some of the more interesting deals, websites and other travel tidbits that came across our desk recently:

>>Crown Cruise Vacations has an eight-night eastern Caribbean cruise on Royal Caribbean International starting at $709 per person, double occupancy, plus taxes and fees. The cruise departs Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on Feb. 16, 2013, and makes port in St. Maarten, St. Kitts, Puerto Rico and the private island of Labadee, Haiti. 877-283-1114, tinyurl.com/arwnjdh

>>General Tours World Traveler is offering a discount of $500 per person on its Machu Picchu & Posada Amazonas tour, which spends seven days exploring Lima, Cuzco, the Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu, and two days in the Peruvian Amazon. That brings the cost down to $2,999 per person, double occupancy, and includes lodging, 17 meals, all transportation, including internal flights, and services of a guide. 800-221-2216, tinyurl.com/aqgcwpk

>>Wyndham's Plaza Resort & Spa in Palm Springs, Calif., has studio suites as low as $89 per night for travel through Jan. 31. You have to book by Dec. 20, and there's a two-night minimum stay, along with some blackout dates. 866-701-3950 and mention code NOVNL or at tinyurl.com/cgdw8gc

>>Friendly Planet Travel has seven-night western Caribbean cruises on Royal Caribbean International as low as $439 per person, double occupancy, from New Orleans. 800-555-5765, tinyurl.com/a5vrmc2

>>If you have any plans for a Tanzania vacation, you might want to consider adding on a five-night stay to enjoy the beaches of Zanzibar. Foreign Independent Tours has a package that includes round-trip air from Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, to Zanzibar and five nights' lodging at the Pongwe Beach Resort from $909 per person, double occupancy. 800-248-3487, tinyurl.com/b5upe44

>>Trafalgar is offering a 10 percent discount on 2013 Europe and Britain tours if you book and pay in full by Dec. 27. 866-513-1995, tinyurl.com/b6q9hnh

>>Kensington Tours has a variety of tours to Madagascar, ranging from the four-day Madagascar Lemur Fever, from $1,120 per person, double occupancy, to the 14-day Lemurs, Landscapes and Beach, from $4,620. 888-903-2001, tinyurl.com/ceg55dg

>>More than 20 hotels in New York City will be taking part in the second annual New York Hotel Week, which actually runs more than two weeks — Jan. 4-20, 2013. Rates are as low as $100 a night, depending on the property. tinyurl.com/alnk9dd

>>The 30A Songwriters Festival will be Jan. 18-20, 2013, in the South Walton area of Northwest Florida's Gulf Coast. 30asongwritersfestival.com

>>If you can't get to San Francisco to do your holiday shopping at the de Young and Legion of Honor museum stores, you can browse their online guide at tinyurl.com/c4xtb4h.

>>Uniworld Boutique River Cruises is giving away a river cruise package for two in Italy. To enter go to tinyurl.com/ayupp6c.

Prices include taxes and fee unless otherwise noted. Deals and Web sites listed here have been checked for availability as of press time, but the listings are not an endorsement.